Imagine walking out your front door at midnight and seeing little fires burning all up and down the street and hearing firecracker explosions fill the night air *pop! pop! pop BOOM!* Here in Ecuador, New Year’s is a day of special and unique traditions. The most notable? Burning paper-maché figures or scarecrow like dolls stuffed with newspaper and firecrackers. Some people make them themselves. Others buy them from vendors downtown (prices range from $5-100 depending on size and quality). These “monigotes” or “viejos” go up in flames when the clock turns midnight. If the gasoline doesn’t make them burn quick enough, poppers are thrown in… POW! Fireworks boom in the sky. Kids and adults alike spin sparklers. Music blares from houses where guests will soon dance the whole night away. Other traditions? Wearing new red or yellow underwear for luck. Eating 12 grapes as the clock chimes twelve, also for luck. Eating lentils and/or filling a container with rice and keeping it in a special place to ensure you won’t go without food that year. Quite the list!
My New Year’s experience? We visited two different families. With the first, we danced out in the front yard and played with sparklers. With the second, we burned a “viejo” out in the street, threw firecrackers at the fire, ate our 12 grapes, sat down to a midnight meal of lentils, rice, and chicken, and conversed until 2am. It was a beautiful night and a blessing to share it with two wonderful families!
Pictures to come soon! :)
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